Arizona weekly enterprise., 1887-05-28
PEcULlARITlEs OF CUBAN LAW.
Tsystsnders Warned Away from Man
 Stabbed and Dying in Agony.

Eystanders Warned Away from s Man
 Stabbed and Dying in Agony.
 The shrill whistle of one of the Havana policemen attracted the attention of the people who were dining in the principal hotel of Havana the other night, and half of them followed the clerks and porters out on the sidewalk. Directly in front of the hotel is @ little park and near one of the small fountains was a man writhing about and digging his fingers into the ground in his agony. He moaned con stantly. He was dying At distance of perhaps twenty feet from him were four policemen, with their arms folded, smok- ing cigarettes and keeping an alert eye on all pedestrians. If man approached the poor wretch who was dying there, he was sternly warned off. The Americans who had been dining in the hotel started to- ward the man in the park ill body, but they were pushed and led back by the hotel employees amid considerable excite ment.
 You mustn't go there" said one of the interpreters, earnestly.
 Why notF' asked a burly and good natured Newark physician, moving fer ward again. ''The mans got cramps probably from hungcr-and a little aid now would save his life. don't propose to stand here and see him die.''
 ''NO, DO. Don't go over there. Listen to me know it will be very serious for you if you ''-
 But the Jerseyman pushed ahead, fol- lowed by his countryEcn, while the inter- Preter rushed into the hotel after an American merchant who has lived here for thirty years and who has a wide knowledge of Cuban affairs. This gentle man ran out without his hat ard called to his countrymen in such an authoritative way that they returned to the hotel again slowly. i
 stay here, be said shortly, staiY keep away som all such scenes as that while you arc in Cuba. The Spanish laws of 300 years ago are still in force, which call for the arrest of witnesses to any crime or tragedy''-
 ''But that man is dying, D protested the Jerseyman.
 q can see that plainly enough. He is either dying of sickness or he has been stabbed in the back by some enemy. The coroner has been sent for and he will prob ably be here in two hours. Meanwhile, if | it is a murder the police will have to make some arrests to satisfy their superiors | God help the men they take into custody l Prisoners here are kept in jail months a1N l months-and foul iGils ct that-without 1 any preliminary examination or commit ment by a magistrate and then they are | tried without being allowed to be present st their trials. Witnesses are not cross | examined and sentence is executed before | there is Q chance for a stay of proceedings 1 Look about Eere. You can see thousands | of people watching that poor devils death agonies from safe distances. See them staring from hoGsetops and from behind pillars and half closed windows They are not towards, but there is not one among them that would dare to risk the consequences of going to the cid of that l unfortunate man.
 One or two other cid Cuban residents joined the group, and we finally went back to the dining room. The grooming and moaning of the man was awful It | all occurred in the heart of the city of Havana, and in Q situation not unlike that of the Fifth Avenue hotel on Madison | square, New York. jumped into a hack and drove away from the neighborhcod when I could stand the thing no longer, and I afterward learned that after two hours the man died and was subsequently, removed. He had been stabbed in the side. No effort was made to get assist ance for him by the brutal police beyond sending for the coroner. Two men were arrested, and they are now in jail.- ! RlakelV Halls Cuho I attnr